Cross-Sectoral Impact of PYD Programs:
What are the best ways to design and implement PYD programs with cross-sector outcomes in LMICs?
- Do programs with more PYD features have impact across more sectors?
- Do PYD programs which build general life skills (e.g., social, communication, problem solving) have impact across more sectors than programs primarily focused on specific skills (e.g., how to use a condom, job training)?
Girls and young women in many LMICs are constrained by gender norms and stereotypes to improve their own lives and those of their families and communities. PYD programs that target gender inequality could conceivably have positive impacts on outcomes in several different sectors. If traditional restraints on girls and women are lifted, we would expect to see better education and economic outcomes for them, but also less domestic violence, more civic engagement, and better healthcare for them, resulting in improved physical and mental health.
For example, Asante Africa published a report on the evaluation of Wezesha Vijana Girls’ Advancement Program (GAP), which utilized multi-level programing to improve sexual and reproductive health (SRH), economic independence, and educational outcomes for girls in East Africa. The GAP model trains schoolteachers, youth mentors, and community organization leaders to deliver SRH and savings group workshops and partners with schools to create safe spaces to deliver the program. The program was designed to increase knowledge and skills related to sexual health, gender equity, and money saving activities, as well as shift social attitudes in the community as a way to increase school retention and improve social, health, and economic outcomes for girls. School staff, community organizations, and family members were all involved through community and ‘mother-daughter’ meetings to support and sustain long term improvements. Although girls have been the primary beneficiaries, workshops for boys were included to build their capacity to act as allies to empower girls and women in their communities. The evaluation report documents improvements in SRH knowledge for girls and boys in the program, school performance and attendance among girls, savings knowledge and behavior, and increased income-generating activities often made possible through savings.
The Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) program in Uganda was based on a program previously developed in Bangladesh. In 2018, the four-year follow-up results of the cluster RCT were published and showed sustained positive impacts on income-generation activities, early pregnancies and marriages, sexual victimization, and attitudes about best age to marry and begin childbearing. This is strong evidence that combining knowledge and skill building in SRH and economic empowerment through community clubs for girls and young women produced impacts in both sectors. This model has the advantage of reaching youth out of school. The cost per recipient was estimated to be just under $18. Furthermore, there was some evidence of positive impact on SRH outcomes to girls who did not participate but lived in the participating communities.
Recommendations for cross-sector PYD program design and implementation:
• Barriers to cross-sector effects include gender inequality and gender norms which block women’s and girls’ access to resources.
• Opportunities to achieve cross-sector outcomes exist in reducing gendered barriers to assets, agency, contribution, and enabling environments.
• The close link between child marriage and other forms of sexual exploitation and lack of economic power for girls and young women in LMICs suggests the need to design programs with the dual purpose of empowering girls and young women economically and socially at the same time.
• Successful PYD programs targeting gender inequality often include a community-level effort.
• Multi-level approaches which bundle programs together can achieve savings over separate individual programs.
• PYD programs that leverage existing community structures, such as schools, clinics, and community groups, can be quite inexpensive to deliver.
• Involve local communities from the very beginning instead of a later stage of program development.
• Form a community stakeholder committee to inform the program regularly.
• Ensure equal gender representation in the program to allow civic engagement and participation of women, as well as involvement in community governance.
• Programs with impacts in both reproductive health and workforce development combined education and skill building within each sector with more general life skills training.
• Use a multilevel approach which includes youth, families, peers, and community leaders as recipients as well as active participants in program implementation.
See also: Do PYD programs have significant positive effects on outcomes in multiple sectors?
